Mark Shuttleworth - April 28, 2002: Point of view - Keeping busy
On the second day of Mark's stay aboard the ISS, he spent time on the
cycling and rest tests for CCE-1 experiment and collected saliva swabs for the CCE-2 experiment . The Stem cell experiment is also underway in the zero-gravity environment. Next came the ocean-monitoring phase of the Plankton Lensa experiment using the onboard camera. Mark will be taking photographs of different locations and sites of interest on the planet as he passes above them. The African continent is high priority for Mark . His list of 100 top sites include Cape Point, Robben Island, Vredefort meteor impact, the Okavango Delta, Soweto, the Kalahari and the Namib desert. He will also take photographs that will be important from an environmental point of view such as the Witbank air pollution.
Watching the world go by
Mark complained of gravity-loss related backache today but said that getting to see 15 extra sunrises and sunsets a day was worth it .
Backpain is a symptom of the spine stretching from the lack of gravity and the way water is distributed in the body. He is enjoying being a couple of centmetres taller although he remarked that unfortunately it would not last after his return to earth.
Being out there has made Mark feel a whole range of emotions. Mark has said that he has been struck the sheer beauty of the world and that it is such a small and precious thing that protects us and should keep us all together.
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